Daniel // Mason

About Me

Past:

My Masters Degree from Abertay University is in Computer Games Technology, which is a subject I found, not only interesting, but also to have many transferable skills. Computer Games require very fast and efficient code to produce detailed interactive environments. This means that when you cannot take liberties where other disciplines may allow for it. Resources must be managed correctly to keep overhead down, program loops must be streamlined to improve speed, and any interfaces must be clear and immediate. These are all points of focus for me when I create tools and apps; for example resource management helped me overcome the problem of duplication and overwrite in multiuser spreadsheets for the IRCB Manager.

Present:

I am currently working as a User Acceptance Tester for Tesco Direct as part of the Change Program. My primary role is testing the Customer Service software that will be used by the After Sales teams. However, due to the stop and start nature of our work, I will often spend my time creating tools for use in other areas of the business. In the nine months since I started at my current position, I have spent most of my excess work time, learning and developing tools VBA, HTML and Javascript. These tools vary in scope from small and handy, such as an installable button that fixes the automatic signatures placed on letters in the written response department, to mini applications like the Insurable Risk Callback Manager (IRCB Manager). I even created an extended 'web app' version of this tool, called IRCB Helper, however we had no way to deploy the product as it required a server with PHP and MySQL.

Future:

My long term goal is to work on a PhD; I find the idea of trying to discover something new enticing. More immediately I'm looking to find work somewhere challenging in the computing industry. My ideal job would be one in which I can solve problems by creatively developing new tools and systems. While I enjoy my current testing work, I would like to feel more essential to the process, and be somewhere I can be recognised for my input.